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It’s a wonderful life!

11 December 2019 / Mark Pawlowski
Issue: 7868 / Categories: Features
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Mark Pawlowski takes a festive look at some of the more humorous cases taken from the English & Commonwealth law reports

Contacting the spirit world

Very spooky behaviour can be found in the criminal law case of R v Young [1955] QB 324. Four members of a jury, while staying overnight in a local hotel, used a ouija board to contact the victim of a murder to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused. The Court of Appeal, not surprisingly, held that this was a material irregularity and duly quashed the conviction for murder.

Unreasonable behaviour?

Most family law practitioners will be aware of O’Neill v O’Neill [1975] 3 All ER 289. This involved a wife’s petition for divorce, which was based on her husband’s unreasonable behaviour in embarking on an extensive two-year programme of renovation of the matrimonial home in order to cure dampness under the floorboards. As part of this work, the toilet door was removed for a period of eight months, causing great embarrassment to the wife and

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Partner joins family law team inLondon

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Private client division announces five new partners

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Banking and finance team welcomes partner in London

NEWS
The landmark Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd—along with Rukhadze v Recovery Partners—redefine fiduciary duties in commercial fraud. Writing in NLJ this week, Mary Young of Kingsley Napley analyses the implications of the rulings
Barristers Ben Keith of 5 St Andrew’s Hill and Rhys Davies of Temple Garden Chambers use the arrest of Simon Leviev—the so-called Tinder Swindler—to explore the realities of Interpol red notices, in this week's NLJ
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] has upended assumptions about who may conduct litigation, warn Kevin Latham and Fraser Barnstaple of Kings Chambers in this week's NLJ. But is it as catastrophic as first feared?
Lord Sales has been appointed to become the Deputy President of the Supreme Court after Lord Hodge retires at the end of the year
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are reportedly in the firing line in Chancellor Rachel Reeves upcoming Autumn budget
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